Adeptus Astartes:A Space Marine is a genetically modified super-soldier, a superhuman armed with the deadliest technology and training man has ever created. Space Marines are capable of fighting the incredibly vicious and powerful forces in the war-torn galaxy, and are one of the main reasons the Imperium of Man has stood for so long.

Following the Great Crusade, the 20 Legions of Space Marines were divided into Chapters. A typical Chapter contains 1,000 Marines, though numbers vary greatly. These Chapters are further divided into Companies, usually 10 with 100 marines in each. Traditionally, the veterans and very best are kept in the 1st company; these are the elite of the elite. The other companies are headed up by a Captain. The Chapter Master oversees the entire Chapter, and has a final say in its decisions.

Space Marines are plucked from feral worlds and the deepest crime-ridden depths of Hive Worlds, where violence and survival is all that is important. Recruits are picked for their strength, prowess, and ruthlessness, and indoctrinated. They must be male, and between ages 16-18. Few can pass the genetic compatibility tests and screening required, but those who do are dubbed "Neophytes." Then, they undergo extensive surgical procedures, enhancing their body. After that, they are called "Initiates." When they are ready, they will stand as a Battle Brother, a Space Marine. A typical marine stands eight to ten feet in height. A Space Marine's bones and muscles are also extremely strong, well beyond human limitations. For example, a Tactical Squad may use armor that weighs 400-600 pounds, and Terminator armor may weigh as much as 1,000 pounds!

Space Marines have a total of 19 extra organs, which are implanted to give them their abilities:

1 The first of these is the Secondary Heart, whose function is straightforward - to give the marine a back-up heart.

2 The Ossmodula drastically alters bone growth, making bones larger and making the ribcage solid and bulletproof.

3 The Biscopea enhances muscle growth.

4 The Haemastamen serves as an endocrine control gland and an organ that increases oxygen in the blood by affected hemoglobin content.

5 The Larraman's Organ accelerates healing.

6 The Catalepsean Node allows the marine to shut off parts of his brain independently, meaning he can stay conscious while other parts of his brain sleep; a Space Marine only requires 4 hours of sleep, and can still see and hear!

7 The Preomnor detoxifies ingested materials.

8 The Omophagea allows the marine to learn an enemy's anatomy by eating their flesh.

9 The Multi-lung allows breathing in reduced atmospheres.

10 The Occulobe allows enhanced vision.

11 The Lyman's Ear makes them immune to dizziness and motion sickness, and enhances their hearing.

12 The Sus-an Membrane can allow a Space Marine properly trained in its use to enter a state of suspended animation, possibly for hundreds of years.

13 The Melanochrome implant controls melanin in the marine's skin, which can absorb radiation.

14 The Oolitic Kidney enables a Space Marine to rapidly filter his blood; while knocking him unconscious, it will remove poisons from his system, effectively detoxifying his body.

15 The Neuroglottis greatly enhances a marine's sense of taste, allowing him to identify many different chemicals just by tasting them.

16 The Mucranoid allows the space Marine to sweat a substance resistant to changes in temperature.

18 The Progenoids absorb genetic data from the marine, creating a whole new geneseed. The geneseed is vitally important to preserving the Chapter and making new Space Marines.

19 A "second-skin" implant known as a Black Carapace allows control of Power Armor as if it were part of the Space Marine's own body. An Initiate cannot receive this implant, or wear Power Armor, until they have spent adequate time as a Scout.

Space Marine power armor is made of thick ceramite plates with fibre bundles designed to further enhance a Space Marine's strength. The armor monitors biological and medical functions, feeding data to the Space Marine. There are many variations of power armor, though the Imperial Sword primarily uses the Mark 7 Aquila Armor. Officers and Squad leaders within the Imperial Sword use Mark 8 Errant Armor. Its oldest Space Marines, within its Elite ranks, employ Artificer Armor.

The Anatomy of Power Armor (Mark 6 Corvus):

Terminator Armor is further strengthened by an adamantium superstructure and plasteel plates. Plasteel is a form of metal stronger and yet more flexible than typical steel. Adamantium is simply a very hard metal, well-suited to supporting the armor's massive weight and protecting the inhabitant. Only Veteran Space Marines with Terminator Honors may don these suits. The Imperial Sword uses the Mark 4 suit.

When these biological enhancements, armor, and weapons are all taken into account, the common Space Marine is nothing short of a walking tank.

The training of a Space Marine takes place in combat above all else. Though Space Marines train daily, they believe the best training is in the heat and desperation of battle. This is why Initiates must first spend time as Scouts, assisting their armored and more experienced brothers in the field before receiving the Black Carapace. Only the oldest and most experienced among the Space Marines may receive Terminator Honors.

History:Somewhere lost in the annals of history was the founding of the Imperial Swords Chapter. Their Fortress Monastery was said to have been somewhere in Segmentum Obscurus, near the Eye of Terror. Another Space Marine Chapter situated there would have reinforced the defenses of the area against Chaos incursion, particularly Cadia.

The Imperial Swords were successful in their initial missions, and as their ranks swelled, they became increasingly powerful, and increasingly hubristic. The Warp opened one day near their homeworld, releasing a massive space hulk, seemingly abandoned. By orders of Adaeus Ferrous, the Chapter Master at the time, several squads of Space Marines, led by himself, would go to search the Space Hulk, purging anything aboard, and salvaging any Imperial technology they could find, for the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Shortly after the force boarded the Space Hulk, it vanished into the Warp without warning. Though it returned mere days later, the Space Marines aboard were shadows of their former selves. Ferrous had pledged himself to Chaos, and all those under his command had become terribly corrupted and mutated. None of this was known, however, until it was too late.

The Space Hulk possessed functional weapons systems, ancient and powerful. The moment it reappeared, it opened fire on the homeworld of the Imperial Swords, laying waste to the surface. Billions had died by the time the Imperial Swords, now led by Gladius Exverum, came aboard the Space Hulk.

The Space Hulk housed many Warp creatures, stray Tyranids, and traitorous Imperial Swords. Much of Gladius' men were lost inside the labyrinthine and icy corridors of the Space Hulk. Finally, Gladius confronted Adaeus. By this time it was clear what had happened aboard the mass of twisted metal. The Space Hulk was caught in the Warp, and the sheer chaos had made three days in the materium last hundreds, if not thousands, in the Warp. The Demons had plenty of time to shape Adaeus and his men into their perverse forms, corrupting mind and body alike. Gladius struck down his former brother, and sabotaged the ship's weapons systems with the help of several Techmarines.

Gladius and his remaining men retreated from the Space Hulk. Its guns disabled, it was bombarded heavily by the Chapter's navy, and inexplicably vanished back into the Warp. Gladius was successful, but the homeworld of the Imperial Swords, as well as most of its battlefleet, lay in ruins. Within days, the Inquisition arrived to carry out an extensive investigation of the entire Chapter. The Imperial Swords were severely depleted, homeless, and in danger of being declared Excommunicate Traitorous.

The investigation found Gladius and his men free of corruption, but the Inquisition needed only a small excuse to order the deaths of every last man in the Chapter. Gladius could not allow even the slightest mistake, and that was what he vowed to do as the Chapter's new Master.

In the wake of the battle, the Imperial Sword was left with few Psykers. Many had gone with Adaeus, and were among the first to fall prey to Chaos's influence. The Chapter thus had to rely on its vehicles and technology. The Techmarines that helped silence the Space Hulk became revered members of the Chapter, and continue to serve it faithfully.

As penance for its shortsightedness, the entirety of the Chapter is not permitted to retreat from any battle. Though often very costly, this doctrine has earned the Chapter respect from its allies, and fear from its enemies. There is no foe like one that fights with utter zeal to the very last man. To face such a foe inspires fear in even the strongest. That is what it is to face the Imperial Swords.